Turin - truly underestimated

We've been based just an hour away from Turin since June, so we've had the chance to visit the city a couple of times.

The city was the first capital of the united Italy and was where the Savoy (royal family) resided. As a result, the streets are well organised, clean and the city has an almost Parisien feel to it.
The old Savoy palace is in the heart of the city and is the focal point for one of the main Piazzas, but just around the corner you can also find plenty of culture.

Delve into the porticos and as well as a world renowned opera house, you can find beautiful old cafes - where I highly recommend a cafe con panna (coffee with cream) - along with gelaterias and quaint restaurants.

The galleria subalpina - a beautiful arcade

Just beyond this you'll find a stunning old arcade that houses antique bookshops, restaurants and even an old style cinema - it's a beautiful place that gives a real sense of late 19th/early 20th century.

Turin is one of the biggest cities in Italy, yet it's only the 8th most visited, but for those who do come to this hidden gem, you'll find that you can saunter around without the feeling of claustrophobia that places like Rome and Florence can give you with their swathes of tourists.

There's plenty to see too - we visited the oldest Egyptian museum in the world (someone debated this with me, but it was the museums words not mine!), which houses a very large and impressive collection, well worth a visit. There's also a civil war museum and the car museum - cars are central to Turin as here it's all about Fiat as this is where the factory is and always has been. In fact, not only is the Fiat factory famous for having the training scenes from the original 'Italian job' film shot on its rooftop racetrack, but I also found out that even Juventus (the famous football team - more on them later) are steeped in history linked to Fiat as they've traditionally been owned by the Fiat owners.

The Mole

Other than a piazza that boasts itself as one of the largest in the world, the city's main tourist attraction is the Mole - a big building with a pointed top that was completed at the same time as the Eiffel tower. You can see the Mole from nearly everywhere in Turin and inside it hosts a really impressive and fascinating cinema museum - we both loved it inside as it is a tribute to the history, the evolution, the art, the glamour and the wonder of cinema. This was one of my favourite museums of all.

The cinema museum inside the Mole

The people of Turin remind me of Milan - not surprising as they're only a couple of hours from each other - in that they're well dressed but casual and look like quite a few are well-to-do professionals (in the centre anyway). Further away from the center and we experienced some crazy driving on the roads as well as people literally parking their cars in the middle of the road! There's plenty to the culture, character and make up to this city.

Another footballing pilgramage - this time to the Biancaneri

Another thing I wanted to visit whilst here was one of the best and famous football teams in Europe - Juventus.

Turin has 2 teams; Juventus and Torino. Torino were massive in the old days, but they suffered a near identical disaster to the Man Utd Busby babes when their team went down on a plane in the alps and the club never recovered, whereas Juventus (derived from the Latin word for youth) overtook them and never looked back.

Juve have a proud history of success - with 32 league titles they well supported and are far ahead of all other Italian teams in terms of league titles. They've also had some of the best players in the world wear their famous black and white stripes (copied from Notts county no less), with my personal favourites being Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero.

So I was happy to cross another big team off my list when I visited as not only did I do a stadium tour but we visited their museum too. The whole stadium and museum are just a couple of years old as they knocked down the old stadium that was "too big" and had a bad atmosphere due to a running track and built a smaller purpose built stadium in its place. As a result, the stadium doesn't have the same wow factor as others - it has some big supports that are coloured in the Italian flag, but otherwise it's nowhere near as impressive as say, the san siro. Also it doesn't look big from outside as it almost merges into the ground, whereas most stadiums rise up like some sort of footballing cathedral.

Inside the Juventus stadium

The museum was fantastic though, way bigger than Milan's and there was so much to it. There were all sorts of things to see, learn and interact with plus an immersive experience of the way things are done at Juve. I doubt I'll see a better football museum - then again it is brand new!

Then it was onto the tour and I was surprised at the size of the group - about 30 of us of differing nationality. The old foundations of the Stade Delle Alpi can still be seen outside and give you an idea of how big it was compared to the new stadium, but inside things are neat, plush and well thought out.

There's a lot of simplicity in places, clearly they don't focus too much on luxury, but there are nice touches. Inside the stadium itself and I was impressed, not bowled over, but impressed nonetheless, it's only now a 41,000 capacity and therefore I thought it might be bigger considering the history of the club, but they fill out this stadium all the time and you get to hear soundclips of the match day atmosphere and that must be amazing to hear. Either way, all of these new surroundings are clearly working as they've won the title in each of the 3 years the stadium's been open!

Once again, I'd rather I visited to see a match but coming out of season I'm glad to at least tour the place and it further whets my appetite to visit the most famous football stadiums in the world (well, Europe).

So in all, Turin is city that has plenty to see and is often overlooked, but with plenty to offer, if you ever get a chance it's well worth a visit.